Overall fitness isn't just about cardio. Although cardio is a major component of weight loss and heart health, it is important to incorporate strength training into your fitness regimen. Strength training builds muscle mass and helps you burn more calories post-workout. Follow these strength-training tips to amp up your workout and get a complete workout.
Even if you are using your fitness program to build muscle, you can benefit from cardiovascular exercise. Cardiovascular exercise will help build the endurance of your muscles, as well as, increase your lung capacity so you can work out longer without becoming fatigued. In addition, it increases blood flow to your muscles so you can gain more muscle mass from other exercises.
You do not have to meet your fitness goals at the gym. Basically you need on six easy exercises in order to stay fit, they are push ups, pull ups, bridges, leg raises, squats, and handstand push ups.
When doing resistance training for fitness, choose a good weight that challenges you. The right weight will allow you to perform about ten to twelve repetitions of the exercise motion before you become too fatigued to do it again. Too heavy and you risk injury, too light and you won't gain maximum benefit from your workout.
Varying the exercises you participate in maximizes the benefits for your body. Those who are fit enough to run miles on a treadmill should be equally able to jog through their neighborhood streets. The different kinds of stress that the different exercises put on the body will yield different results. By keeping things changing in your workout, weight loss is possible and the body will not feel too used to any specific exercise.
Prohibiting certain foods to enter the house like donuts, potato chips or sugary beverages will help you from sabotaging your fitness program. Instead, clean out your refrigerator and replace the bad foods with healthier fruits, vegetables and water. Drinking plenty of water will help stave off hunger and prevent you from over-indulging.
Stretches should be performed before you begin your exercise and afterwards to cool the muscle from intense performance. When stretching, it is best to hold a position for 15 to 30 seconds and try not to bounce during the hold. Bouncing will force the muscle to hit a tendon or body part unnecessarily and may cause injury.
Obviously, there are many options when it comes to working strength moves into your fitness routine. Keep doing your cardio, but additionally, choose any number of the tips mentioned to keep your muscles strong and prevent injury. Not only will you increase your calorie burn, but you'll have awesome muscle definition to boot.